My open tabs

Been doing a lot of thinking. Had a light week with Jim out of town and taking the kiddo to an amusement park, the Hugo/Campbell nominees announced, Easter, gardening, etc. So I am looking at a great deal of stuff in my browser and thought, heck, I’d write about my open tabs.

Email. Duh. But! Someone said that if you write /ponies in G-chat that you would get, well, ponies. Like Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie and all that. This was exciting. Tried it out with my friend Andrea. Fail.There’s like email stuff in the email tab, too, but ponies.

Fitbit spring clean blog: I joke that my walks/runs are really “feeding the fitbit” and, let’s face it, hitting 40 has not been good for my ass and waist. (It’s like my body has said, “We have done our genetic duty. It’s time for sweatpants.”) But this particular fitbit post coincides with a discussion I had with Jim today about walking outside affecting creativity, and I expressed some disbelief that my creativity is better served by a walk outside than with an hour with an ipad game.(Come on. I was kidding. I may be addicted to my iPad but I do acknowledge it.)So more walks. Fewer games of FTL. Which I have yet to beat. On easy. BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT.

Become A Cosmo Fiction Blogger: I admit, I’m intrigued. Upon reading this, a character sprang to mind, fully formed.I will call her Athena in the spirit of the goddess’ birth. So Athena has lived the rom-com, a city girl who vacationed in the country and discovered love there, a kind country veterinarian. Her wheeling and dealing Wall St. boyfriend showed up to make Act II end poorly, but it all turned out OK by Act III, love story happy ending. BUT that is backstory. At the start of my story she is discovering that having a partner who has a job that forces your evening sexy time to be interrupted by horse births, well, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There are other issues, obviously, but the hammer falls on the night where she is trying to salvage their relationship with some lingerie purchased at a recent trip to the city, and a bottle of wine, and Farmer Fran Murphy down the road has a cow with a complicated birth, and Handsome Vet Dude must attend. When HVD comes home (the calf died, very sad), Athena is gone, back to the city and the life she knows. Thus starts our sex/dating blog.

Send Nicole to Clarion! – There are two blog posts such as these going around, two people who had the talent and luck to get accepted into Clarion, but, let’s face it, it’s expensive, not to mention the wages most people will lose during a 6-week-residential course. So I’ll be supporting Nicole and Haralambi Markov because dammit, ISBW supports fledgling writers. (OK, I’ll support Nicole once I find my wallet. I’m downstairs. It is upstairs. See problem 2 above with the fat ass and the lazy. NICOLE I WILL GET TO YOU AND YOUR CLARION AND YOUR NON-PAYPAL CAMPAIGN. AS SOON AS I GET MY WALLET.)EDIT- SUPPORTED!

SFF180 Special– a Hugo Finalist discussion (video)- I have many, as the kids say these days, “feels” about the 2014 Hugo ballot.First the Campbell- I couldn’t be happier. It’s full of so many damn SMART PEOPLE: Max Gladstone, who I bonded with last WorldCon, is on the ballot again. I’m working through his series now and am just blown away. Speaking of blown away, Angry Robot authors Wesley Chu and Ramez Naam are on the ballot, and they are SO talented. Mez is one of those people who makes me feel kinda humble and dumb to talk to. Dude is just so smart. Read his books. Feel his smart. The other two authors I’m not familiar with, but will definitely be, as Sofia Samatar and Benjanun Sriduangkaew are widely published in amazing short story publications, and Samatar is also nominated for the Hugo for short story. (We’ve seen this before, haven’t we, E. Lily Yu, who is awesome?)

Campbell ballot: two women, three men. FOUR people of color. FOUR. Pardon me while I run around in glee. This is the future of SF, people. It’s so goddamn exciting.

As for the rest of the ballot, there’s too much going on to be specific -that needs its own post- but I’m very glad that Mira Grant and Mary Robinette Kowall got nominations, as Grant put out another thought-provoking SF book this year (Parasite) and Mary Robinette was robbed last year from a nomination. I haven’t read Ancillary Justice yet, but I hear nothing but OMG BEST BOOK EVAR about it, so I’m looking forward to it. Also looking forward to Charlie Stross’ book.

I will be honest. I won’t be reading the whole of Wheel of Time this summer. That’s just not going to happen. Physically impossible.

As I just listened to The Human Division again with the family (the kiddo loved it), I am surprised Scalzi didn’t get a nomination, esp since he could have been nominated for the whole book, or one of the many separately published parts. (I love The Human Division for a lot, but it’s a particularly feminist book with all starship captains being women, the main woman being a) not a love interest, and b) a diplomatic, no-nonsense hardass with the word “bitch” being uttered – near as I can recall – not once? I think Hart Schmidt’s sister calls her an “asshole” at some point, but that’s not feminine-specific bile and as I said, the ambassador isn’t cuddly, nor a woman to be “tamed” by love and/or sex, and the bridge of the Clarke having all women and one man, gender-swapping Star Trek.) And I’m downright shocked that Neil Gaiman didn’t get a nomination for Ocean at the End of the Lane – it wasn’t my favorite of his books, but it’s all anyone talked about last summer. And it has a Nebula nomination. He could have turned down the Hugo nomination, naturally. Who knows?

Feminist bloggers Kameron Hurley and Foz Meadows are nominated for best fan writer, and I nominated both of them. So thrilled their voices are heard and acknowledged.

The tab that’s open is talking about nominations, and some other things going on with the ballot that have some people upset. Some people who most find reprehensible racist homophobic sexist dipshits (hint, I’m among those of that opinion) have made the ballot, and people Are Angry, assuming those nominated have made the ballot by gaming the system instead of by writing good stuff.

But they’re on the ballot. All I’m going to do is read the nominated works and vote as I see fit. Reprehensible people have a right to be heard in this country, which is good because I’m sure someone else thinks I’m reprehensible with my fallopian tube-ness and my equal-rights-wanting-ness. Of course, I have the right to not listen to their bile, and vote for their works as I see fit. Which I will do. It’s all I can do, really. I’m sure they’re enjoying seeing the liberals freak about this – but I don’t know for sure, because I don’t read their blogs. I’ve read enough bile and hatred on their blogs to suit me for life.

Lastly – full disclosure, I’m an Orbit author- I don’t understand the Best Editor category. I know many of the people nominated, and I think they are amazing editors. I’m not trying to take away their thunder. I’m not angry about who was nominated, I’m just confused about those left out. Riddle me this- why does the Best Novel category so often have Orbit books (Mira Grant’s books, NK Jemisin’s books, and this year three of the five nominated spring to mind) listed, but they don’t honor the editors at Orbit? During the Oscars, there’s always fuss if a picture gets Best Pic nomination but NOT Best Director, or vice versa, because how can a picture be Best without an amazing director at the helm, but you don’t hear that at the Hugos, with best editor not always correlating with best novel. And yeah, the editor of the books aren’t always obvious, but that’s not much of an excuse.

ANYWAY. Video about the Hugos. Watch it. It’s good.

Bought rose bushes today. Weeded. Cooked lamb. It was a good day. Now I’m going to go to sleep and try to feet the fitbit something hardcore tomorrow.